Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
New Mexico State
Bulldogs Bury Aggies, 83-64
2/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. - On its stretch run to the 2010 WAC Tournament, Fresno State came out on fire while fueled by the return of Paul George, who sparked the Bulldogs to a crushing 83-64 victory over New Mexico State on Thursday night with an entry into the 30-point club.
"We loved having Paul back on the floor," head coach Steve Cleveland said of getting to use one of his primary targets for the first time in four and a half games. "He makes his teammates better and he definitely provided a spark. This is a big win for our program."
Sophomore forward Paul George, who had previously notched 29 points in three separate games, joined Fresno State's 30-Point Club with a career-high 30 points on 8 of 19 shooting (5-13 from beyond the 3-point arc) and added seven rebounds paired with three assists. He also converted all nine of his free throw attempts.
"It was nice to be out there with my guys," George said of his return in which he went 5 of 13 from 3-point range. "I love all my teammates. It was hard to be out, but it's great to be back."
The win marked this Bulldog roster's first victory over a first-place team (NMSU entered the game in a tie for first in the Western Athletic Conference standings with Utah State) and the first over New Mexico State since a 75-69 victory on Feb. 10, 2007. With the 19-point triumph, Fresno State improved to 13-12 on the season and 6-5 in WAC play.
The `Dogs were directed by efficient sophomore point guard Steven Shepp, who guided the Bulldog offense and defense with nine assists, four steals and a career-high two blocks. Sylvester Seay, a senior from San Bernardino, Calif., passed the 900-point milestone with 14 on the night to become Fresno State's 38th highest scorer in program history and grabbed nine rebounds, swatted three Aggie shots and added a pair of steals.
Freshman Greg Smith chimed in 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds in only 23 minutes while sophomore Mike Ladd rounded out the Bulldogs in double figures on scoring with 10 points.
"Steven and Ves played very well tonight," Cleveland said. "We switched defenses pretty often and I am big fan of the number 21. That's the number of assists we had tonight. Greg gave us some great minutes and helped us win the game. Mike played solid and Ned (Golubovic) stepped up in the middle."
Four Bulldogs reached double figures for the second straight game and 11th time this season. Fresno State is 7-4 this year when four `Dogs reach the double-digit scoring plateau and upped their record to 10-2 on the season when leading at halftime.
As a team, Fresno State drained 18 of 21 (86%) free throw attempts, their second highest this season, to improve to 3-1 when converting 80 percent or more of their shots from the charity stripe.
At 6-5 in WAC play, the `Dogs moved within a half game of Nevada, who sits in sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings, and forced New Mexico State out of first place in the league.
Jahmar Young and Jonathan Gibson had 14 points each for New Mexico State (15-9, 8-3), which fell out of a first-place tie with Utah State in the WAC standings.
Fresno State will conclude their two-game homestand in a Saturday night date with the Idaho Vandals. The game is the second of a Bulldog doubleheader that starts with the 10-0 Fresno State women's basketball team playing NMSU at 5 p.m. The Fresno State and Idaho men's teams will tip off at either 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the end of the women's game.
"We Are Your Team!" - The `Dogs will finish the weekend off when they challenge the Idaho Vandals on Saturday the 13th. Tickets can be purchased through the Save Mart Center Box Office, by calling 559-485-TIXS or through Ticketmaster.com. For more information visit GoBulldogs.com.
